Energy efficiency: The drive for improved industry benefits

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1 THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE FOR PUMP USERS Number 587 January 2016 Energy efficiency: The drive for improved industry benefits Also: HVAC Marine Oil & gas in liaison with Connect with us

2 30 Feature WORLD PUMPS January 2016 Mining Pumps and circular economy E very year thousands of old worn pumps are thrown away as scrap material becoming a huge headache for mining companies around the world. Petar Ostojic from Neptuno Pumps shows how some companies are transforming this into a global opportunity by replacing the old linear economy produce, use and throw away- with circular economy. For several years, due to the good prices of metals and the lack of engineering and manufacturing capabilities installed in Latin America, the mining industry, as shown in Figure 1, has operated under a lineal philosophy with its overseas providers, over-stocking pump parts and components with a throw things away approach. However the current economic crisis, global warming and a more empowered society have pushed the industry to develop innovative, efficient and sustainable solutions in order to improve its productivity, save energy and reduce its carbon footprint thus mitigating the negative effects of climate change. This is where circular economy brings fresh air to this mature industry, providing new opportunities for innovation while offering a new approach that goes beyond recycling and reducing energy, becoming a real alternative to move away from the current take-makedispose linear approach and moving towards a more environmental, social and sustainable circular philosophy that considers waste as an error of design. Some history Circular economy is not a new kid in the block. Although there is no absolute agreement on who introduced the concept for the first time, some would agree that its origins date back to 1976 when architect and economist Walter Stahel co-authored with Genevieve Reday the idea of an economy in loops in a report to the European Commission called The Potential for Substituting Manpower for Energy. On the other hand, some would be more comfortable saying that it is a mixture of several schools of thoughts, such as Performance Economy (1976), Industrial Ecology (1989), Biomimicry (1997), Cradle to Cradle (2002) and Blue Economy (2010). Figure 1. Worn pump components under the take-make-dispose linear approach. However it was until 2010 when circular economy started gaining momentum with the creation of The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an independent charity established by former world record solo long-distance yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur. Through the publication, in 2012 and 2013, of its reports Towards the / Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

3 WORLD PUMPS January 2016 Feature 31 Figure 2. Circular economy diagram. Image courtesy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Circular Economy, the Foundation successfully re-introduced the concept in a convincing, modern and accessible way, allowing them to be invited to participate in some of the world s most important venues such as the World Economic Forum, Global Water Summit and TED Talks among others, becoming the most respected voice in circular economy worldwide. Circular economy As shown in Figure 2, the circular economy approach is an industrial system that is restorative by design and it proposes that, rather than extracting natural resources, the materials that have already been taken can be recovered and reused in a variety of ways, thus protecting natural resources from overexploitation. This aims to keep valuable resources in circulation for longer periods of time, thus boosting recycling and preventing the loss of materials. In order to achieve these goals, alternative business models are required, such as reuse, remanufacture, rental schemes, design for reparability and recycling. According to the World Economic Forum, under the current linear approach, about 80% of the US$ 3.2 trillion material value is lost irrecoverably each year only in the consumer goods sector alone, in a world where commodity prices have increased in 150% in 2002 to The Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that the adoption of a circular economy approach could save European manufacturers US$ 630 billion a year by 2025 in material cost, also leading to significant job creation. Furthermore, just a few months ago, the global think tank Club of Rome, published a study that suggested that carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 70% if a circular economy philosophy would be adopted. The European Commission has also declared circular economy as the path to a more prosperous society, and it is expected to present an ambitious circular economy strategy by the end of 2015 in order to transform Europe in a more competitive economy. As we ve seen, several initiatives are currently been undertaken in order to move away from the current linear approach, particularly in Europe, into more resource-efficient economy, however this has not been the case for Latin America until now, where the mining industry has been slowly incorporating this approach whit some high impact results. Being more efficient is not enough Throughout the years, Neptuno Pumps has characterised by the design of engineered, innovative and efficient pumps which have saved millions of dollars in energy and reduced thousands of tons in carbon emissions. Its strategic location, right in the heart of the world s biggest mining industry in Chile, has allowed them to deliver innovations which have been recognised with two Pump Industry Awards in the Technical Innovation of the Year - Projects category as well as other international innovation and sustainability awards. However, the company noticed that working towards energy efficiency was not enough in order to mitigate neither the negative effects of climate change nor the finite nature of resources. It also realised that the mining industry has a tremendous potential for circular economy, particularly in the fluids transportation area, due to its highly corrosive and abrasive operational conditions, offering a continuous flow of pumping equipment and materials that could be permanently remanufactured, reused and recycled.

4 32 Feature WORLD PUMPS January 2016 Figure 3. Vertical turbine pump brought from the mine site for remanufacturing. As featured in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Network Map, Neptuno Pumps has incorporated the circular economy approach to its processes, designing its equipment in order to be easy to take apart, permitting the reusing and recycling of most of its most important and expensive parts, thus reducing its cost of remanufacturing and guaranteeing that pumps will be durable enough to withstand multiple cycles of use. This has allowed the company to offer products that are 60% to 70% of their original price with a one-year warranty, just as it was a brand new product. Figure 4. Circular economy in action: Pump impeller being recycled in the foundry. Remanufacturing is the new recycling The Ministro Hales division, one of Chile s state-owned copper producers Codelco, is located in the region of Antofagasta in northern Chile at an altitude of meters above sea level. As part of its usual maintenance program, the company wanted to repair its four vertical turbine pumps that were operating at a reclaim water station and decided to send it to Neptuno Pumps. However, after receiving and analysing the equipment, as seen in Figure 3, Neptuno Pumps noticed that these pumps were operating under serious abrasive conditions which practically destroyed its components, thus making impossible to repair its most important components such as bowls and impellers. In the past, these worn parts would have been considered just scrap material and would have been returned to the end user in order to be gathered, classified and sold usually to industries located overseas, an old standard process that would have further

5 WORLD PUMPS January 2016 Feature 33 Figure 5. Remanufactured pump with reused parts and recycled materials. increased the carbon footprint of this old equipment. However this time it won t be the case. Fortunately these vertical turbine pumps were manufactured in 100% recyclable materials; its bowls were made in grey iron SAE J431 Gr and the impellers in bronze UNS C93200 (SAE 660). Therefore, Neptuno Pumps, as seen in Figure 4, decided to recycle the material from these old worn parts in order to produce new components by melting these parts at their world-class foundry using its induction furnaces. In order to keep costs low for the customer, column pipes and discharge heads were repaired and reused by welding and re-machining them to original its dimensions and tolerances, giving a second life to perfectly good components, avoiding the need of buying a brand new pump from overseas. This remanufactured equipment, as shown in Figure 5, resulted in a total saving of 30% compared to a brand new pump, reducing its cost in US$ 35,000 per unit, resulting in a total saving of US$ 140,000 for this project. This innovative solution also allowed a reduction of 60% in energy consumption, 75% in waste and 70% in carbon emissions from remanufacturing rather than manufacturing new equipment. Furthermore, it also reduced the delivery time in 50%, supplying the products in three months compared to the standard six to seven months of most equipment brought from overseas, this due to the proximity between the mine site and Neptuno Pumps plant which are only 390 kilometres away, further reducing its carbon footprint. Conclusion Circular economy has been gaining momentum through remanufacturing, reusing and recycling valuable resources, thus replacing the old takemake-dispose linear approach by a more innovative, sustainable and stable pattern of growth where what used to be regarded as waste is now considered a resource. Furthermore, it represents a tremendous opportunity for developing countries -which have historically based their economy in the exploitation of commodities- to industrialise in a smart and sustainable way, reshoring engineering and manufacturing capabilities near local industries thus creating processes that protect the environment, create jobs and foster innovation The French poet Victor Hugo said that nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come, and as shown above, the time for circular economy has arrived. Contact: Petar Ostojic Mechanical Engineer, M.Sc. Project & Product Manager Neptuno Pumps Av. Circunvalación 64B, Iquique, Chile Tel: Web: projects@neptunopumps.com